Sheet receiving tray for rotary printing machine



Nov. 13, 1956 F. MITCHELL EI'AL 2,779,192

SHEET RECEIVING TRAY FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO 65m fry/rams.

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SHEET RECEIVING TRAY FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE Filed June 26, 1953,

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SHEET RECEIVING TRAY FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 26, 1953 JNVENTORS L a s It}? E N! TCf/EL 4 EDWA: a J JAIME M, mmkfim flfldfi/VEYI SHEET RECEIVING TRAY FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINE Lester F. Mitchell, Shaker Heights, and Edward J. Janke,

Cleveland, Ohio, assignors to Addrcssograph-Mnltigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application June 26, 1953, Serial No. 364,226

7 Claims. (Cl. 101240) This invention relates to improvements in or relating to printing or duplicating machines. The invention is particularly concerned with the provision of a rotary printing or duplicating machine which will permit the attendant to remain seated while operating the machine. These, therefore, are the general objects of the present invention.

For many years rotary printing and/or duplicating machines have been manufactured with little regard for the comfort of the operator. The construction of such machines has contemplated operation by an attendant from a standing position. Generally, such machines include a base having a sheet feed table at one end and a sheet receiving table or receptacle at the opposite end, together with a rotary printing couple which is disposed between the two tables and imprints sheets as they pass from one table to the other, the axes of the couple extending horizontally and at right angles to the path of movement of the sheets. Such machines have been constructed with their feed tables at a height which requires operation of the machine by an attendant from a standing position.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a rotary printing or duplicating machine capable of operation from a seated position. To accomplish this the invention provides a machine having a feed table placed at a much lower elevation than heretofore, so that it is readily accessible to an operator from a seated position. Further, the present invention so positions the discharge table or receptacle that it also is accessible and imprinted sheets thereon are visible to the operator while seated.

This is accomplished by providing a discharge or sheet receiving receptacle which is positioned beneath the printing mechanism, in a plane below the feed table and by making such sheet receiving receptacle accessible through an enlarged opening formed in one side wall of the machine housing.

Further, the invention includes an improved sheet handling mechanism by means of which a sheet fed to the front of the machine is delivered at one side thereof. In accomplishing this, a simple and effective sheet stripping mechanism is provided to strip the printed sheet from the printing roll without injury to the image just printed thereon, and to guide such imprinted sheet to the sheet receiving receptacle. The sheet receiving receptacle is so positioned relative to the printing couple and the stripping mechanism as to reduce to a minimum the likelihood of injury to the image printed on a previously imprinted sheet lying on the receptacle. The latter is accomplished by tilting the sheet receiving receptacle downward from the front to the rear of the machine, as well as downward from one side to the other thereof, with the result that one corner of the leading edge of the imprinted sheet leaving the rotary printing couple and stripping mechanism will strike a previously imprinted sheet lying on the receptacle before other portions of the discharging sheet strike such previously printed sheet. This causes the freshly imprinted sheet to settle gently on the previous printed sheet. The relation Stae Patent 2,770,192 Patented Nov. 1B, 1956 "ice charging sheet will pivot about such corner and gently float into contact with angularly positioned abutments carried by the receptacle which stack the discharging sheets without use of sheet jogging mechanisms or the like.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a printing or duplicating machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the improved machine;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertically extending transverse section as indicated by the line 3-3 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail, the plane of which is indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail taken through the sheet receiving table or receptacle as indicated by the line 55 on Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the sheet receiving receptacle removed from the machine;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of the sheet receiving receptacle as viewed from the right hand side of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through one of the printing drums, illustrating a portion'of the sheet discharge and gripping mechanism, the parts thereof being illustrated as positioned shortly prior to the discharge of the imprinted sheet, and the plane of the section being substantially that indicated in Fig. l by the lines 88;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but illustrating the parts as they appear during the initial stripping operation;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Figs. 5 and 6 but illustrating the parts as they appear at a somewhat later point in the cycle of operation of the machine;

Fig. 11 is a plan of one unit of the sheet stripping mechanism;

Fig. 12 is a bottom view of the sheet stripping unit shown in Fig. 11;

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 are sectional details, the planes of the sections being indicated by the correspondingly numbered lines on Fig. 11;

Fig. 16 is a perspective view of one member of the sheet stripping unit.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the improved printing mechanism includes a substan tially hollow rectangular housing 10 having a front wall 11, a rear wall 12, and side walls 14 and 15 which are suitably joined and reinforced by a framelike bracing structure, portions of which are illustrated at 16 in Fig. 3. The side walls 14 and 15 rise above the front and rear walls as indicated at 17 in Fig. 1. Supported between the upstanding portions 17 of the side walls are a set of coacting printing rolls or drums. As generally indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, these drums are mounted on horizontally extending transverse shafts suitably journaled in the side walls in any well known manner. In the embodiment illustrated, the printing mechanism is of the planographic type and includes three coacting rolls or drums, namely a pattern or master roll 20 carrying a printing plate, an offset or transfer roll 21 which coacts with the master roll 20 to receive an inked image from the printing plate, and transfer it to a sheet which is passed between such transfer roll and a platen roll 22 mounted therebeneath. Suitable inking and repellant applicator mechanisms are provided. These may be of any well known type and are mounted within a housing indicated at 24 in Figs. 1 and 2 as being supported be- 3 tween the portions 17 of the side frame members 14 and 15 at the rear of the master roll 20. The various printing rolls are preferably driven by an electric motor 25, indicated in Fig. l as being mounted within the hollow base 10. This motor is drivingly connected with printing rolls.

Extending forward from the front 11 of the machine is a horizontal table 27 across which sheets are fed by an operator one at a time into the bite of the transfer and platen rotlls 21 and 22. The bite of these rolls together with the upper surface of the table 27 are so spaced above the machine supporting surface as to facilitate the feeding of sheets across the table by an operator while in a seated position. Any well known sheet stop mechanism may be positioned at the innermost end of this table to control the time of entry of the sheets into the bite of the rolls.

In the present embodiment the transfer roll 21 is provided with a sheet receiving gripper which grips the sheet and guides it into the bite of the transfer and platen rolls. This gripper is arranged to eject the sheet from the transfer roll and project it into the path of a stripper member generally indicated in Fig. 1 at 30. The sheet gripping mechanism of the transfer roll, together with the stripper 30 are more clearly illustrated in Figs. 8 to 16 inclusive and will hereinafter be described in detail. Sufiice it to say at the present time, that the paper ejector and stripper mechanism is arranged to cause a sheet passing between the transfer and platen rolls to be discharged substantially along the path indicated by the arrow 31 of Fig. 1, namely, in a downward and rearward direction to a position underlying the master roll 20 and the ink and repellent applicator mechanism 24, while maintaining the leading edge of the discharging sheet substantially horizontal and parallel to the axes of the rolls.

The sheets discharging along the path generally indicated at 31 are collected by sheet receiving table or receptacle 35. This receptacle, as illustrated, comprises a sheet metal member having a planar sheet receiving surface 36 and a pair of upwardly and inwardly bent adjacent walls 37 and 38 which form acute angles with the planar surface 36. This receptacle is movable into and out of the housing through an enlarged opening 40 formed in the housing side wall 15. When in position in the housing the receptacle underlies the printing drum 2t) and the applicator mechanism 24 and its planar surface 36 slopes downward from the far housing side wall 14 toward the near wall 15, and downward from the front wall 11 toward the rear wall 12. The receptacle is so positioned that it projects outward from the housing wall as indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

When in position in the housing, the far edge 33 of the receptacle is substantially parallel with the far side 14, while the rear edge, namely the upwardly bent wall 37 (right hand edge in Figs. 1 to 3) which forms an obtuse angle with the far edge 33, slopes rearwardly from the far housing wall 14 toward the near housing wall 15. The foremost edge of the housing, namely the upwardly bent wall 38 forms an angle of substantially ninety degrees with the wall 37, and accordingly inclines outwardly through the opening 40 of the housing wall 15 from the rear of the housing through the front thereof. The left hand edge 34 of the receptacle is illustrated as forming a right angle with the edge 33, however, this angle may be increased or decreased as desired, as long as the area of the planar surface 36 has sufficient area to support the sheets being imprinted and is small enough to enable the receptacle to be readily withdrawn from the housing 10 through the opening 40.

The sheet receiving tray or receptacle 35 is supported adjacent the side walls of the casing. As shown in Fig. 1, the opening 40 in the housing wall 15 is triangular, the lower boundary 41 thereof inclining downward from front to rear of the housing at an angle of from fifteen to twenty-five degrees from the horizontal. A flange 42 extends inwardly from this boundary. This flange may be formed integral with the housing wall 15 or, as indicate-d in Fig. 3, it may comprise a separate member secured thereto by welding or the like. The flange slopes downward from front to rear of the housing at the same angle as the boundary 41 of the housing opening 40. A downwardly extending lip 45 is secured to the bottom of the receptacle which, when the receptacle is in position in the housing, abuts the inner edge of the housing flange 42. The lip 45, as shown, is formed by one leg of an inverted channel 46 which is secured to the under side of the sheet receiving receptacle 35 with the lip parallel with the far edge 33 of the receptacle. The other lip 47 of the channel member 46 is shorter than the lip and rests on the housing flange 42. An abutment member 5t) extends downward from one of the housing bracing members 16, adjacent the far side 14 of the housing. The horizontal distance between the vertical plane of this abutment and the inner edge of the housing flange is less than the distance between the receptacle lip 45 and the far edge 33 of the receptacle. These distances are such that, when the receptacle is positioned in the housing with the lip 45 thereof abutting the inner edge of the flange 42 and the far edge 33 of the receptacle resting against the abutment 50, the receptacle will be tilted downward from the far wall 14 of the housing to the near wall 15 thereof, an angle of between fifteen and twenty-five degrees from the horizontal.

The projection of the sheet receiving receptacle 36 from the opening 40 in the housing wall 15, together with the enlargement of the opening as it approaches the rear wall 12 of the housing 10, results in making a large portion of the imprinted sheet visible to the operator from a seated position adjacent the near housing side 15 and the feed table 27.

The sheet receiving receptacle is bodily movable longitudinally of the housing to permit accommodation of different lengths of sheets. The lengthwise position of the receptacle is determined by engagement of an inwardly extending lip formed on the abutment 50 with any one of a plurality of notches 52 found in the rear edge of the receptacle. Due to the inclination of the receptacle and its supporting surface 42 relative to the housing 10, the movement of the receptacle toward the front of the housing brings it vertically and horizontally nearer to the stripping mechanism, the opposite being true for'movement of the receptacle toward the rear of the housing. Thus, for shorter sheets the receptacle is moved toward the front of the housing and for longer sheets toward the rear of the housing.

The sheet gripping mechanism is of the type shown and described in Patent No. 2,165,231 issued July 11, 1939, to Add-ressograph-Multigraph Corporation, and reference may be had to such patent for a more complete description of such mechanism. Suflice it to say that the operator feeds the sheet to the bite of a series of fingers and a bar 61, both of which are movably carried by the transfer drum 21, at such time as the fingers 60 are separated from the bar, whereupon the rotation of the drum relative to a stationary cam 63 causes the bar to swing into the position shown in Fig. 8 and permits springs 64 to draw the fingers 60 into gripping contact with the sheet with suflicient pressure to retain the sheet in position on the drum and lead it between the transfer and platen rolls 21 and 22.

As the roll 21 continues in its rotation, the stationary cam 63 cooperates with a roller 66 to rock the fingers 60 counterclockwise, and, as the outermost end of a lever 67 engages a pin 68 of the bar 61, such bar is rocked clockwise. These rocking movements of the fingers 60 and the bar 61 move the outer edge of each of them, as well as the forward edge of the sheet, out of the recess formed in the drum.

. Further rotation of the drum brings the prongs 70 of the bar 61 and the fingers 60 between the tines 7'1 of the stripper member 30. This member is such that the movement of the drum causes the tines 71 to engage the upper surface of the sheet and prevent it from following the drum upwardly.

The stripper member 30 is best shown in Figs. 1, and 8 to 14 inclusive. Such member comprises an elongated plate 72, the ends of which are bent downward to forming lugs 73 for attachment, by bolts 74, to the side '14 and 15 of the housing or the reinforcing frame members carried thereby. The forward portion of the bar is provided with a plurality of horizontally spaced downwardly bent tines 71 which, as shown in Figs. 8 to 10, are adapted to project between the fingers 60 of the gripping mechanism when such mechanism is in its sheet discharging position as indicated in Fig. 9.

Secured to the under side of the stripper member 72 are a plurality of runners 80. These runners are formed of relatively thin sheet steel of about three to five hundredths of an inch in thicknessand project downward from the member 72 extending transversely of such member and present knife-like edges 81 to the sheet. These edges extend substantially parallel with the desired path of the sheet. These runners 80 are formed by inverted channels, each having a base or web portion 82 which is secured to the plate 72 by bolts or screws 83 and a pair of downwardly bent side or flanges 84, the lower edge of each of which provides a runner 81. The side flanges 84 project forward from the web portion 82 and are spaced so that their forward portions 85 snugly embrace the sides of a respective tine 71 of the member 72.

When the stripper 30 is in position, the sheet contacting surfaces 81 of the runners 80 taper upward from the bite of the roll 21 .and 22 and then slope rearward and downward toward the receptacle 35. When the fingers 60 and the tines 70 of the bar 61 are in the sheet discharging position, as shown in Fig. 9, the forward edges of the runners 81 and the tines 71 interlace and coact therewith to prevent further upward movement of the ejected sheet. This interlacing of the tines 71 and fingers 60 also prevents contact between the forward edge of the tines 7'1 and the freshly printed sheet and restricts contact of the sheet to the knife-like guiding edges 81. These edges are aligned horizontally one with the other to keep the leading edge of the sheet horizontal.

By utilizing a relatively heavy supporting member 72 and securing channel shaped sections thereto, to provide the runners, and by extending the tines 71 between the forward edges of the channel flanges 84, which form the runners, the thickness of the latter may be retained at a minimum thereby materially reducing likelihood of damage to the fresh imprint on the sheet.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that this invention provides a printing or duplicating machine which may be readily operated by an attendant while in a seated position, and in which the likelihood of injury to the freshly inked imprints is reduced to a minimum.

We claim:

1. In a duplicating machine, a vertically extending rectangular housing including a pair of spaced side walls, a front wall and a rear wall, a rotary printing couple journaled in the upper portion of said housing with their axes extending horizontally and transversely relative to said housing, a sheet feed table secured to said housing and extending forward from the front wall thereof and across which sheets may be fed to said printing couple, one of said side walls having an enlarged opening extending therethrough, a sheet receiving receptacle carried by said housing and movable into and out of sheet receiving position in said housing through said opening, means within said housing to divert freshly printed sheets from the printing couple into said receptacle, said receptacle having a planar sheet receiving surface, means to removably support said receptacle with said surface sloping downward from front to rear and downward from .a point adjacent one side of the-housing toward the side of said housing having the opening extending therethrough whereby one corner of the leading edge of a sheet being discharged by said printing couple will strike said surface before other portions of such sheet, an upstanding abutment carried by said receptacle adjacent the rear housing wall and a second upstanding abutment carried by the receptacle adjacent the housing wall having the opening extending therethrough, each of said abutments extending at an acute angle in a counterclockwise direction from the corner of the housing formed at the junction of said adjacent walls.

2. A duplicating machine according to claim 1 wherein the receptacle is movable longitudinally relative to said housing without changing its angular position relative thereto, and means carried by said housing and coac-t-ing with said receptacle to retain the receptacle in any one of a plurality of predetermined longitudinal positions.

3. A duplicating machine according to claim 2 wherein said last named means includes an abutment carried by said housing and engageable with any one of a plurality of notches formed in said receptacle.

'4. In a duplicating machine, a vertically extending rectangular housing having a pair of spaced side walls, a front wall and a rear wall, said side walls extending upward above the front and rear walls, a rotary printing couple journ-alled in the upwardly extending portion of said housing side walls with its axes extending horizontally and transversely relative to said housing, an inking mechanism carried by said housing and positioned rearward relative to said couple, a sheet feed table secured to said housing and extending forward from said front wall and across which sheets may be fed to said couple, a sheet receiving receptacle carried by said housing and positioned beneath said couple and inking mechanism and having a planar sheet receiving surface, means to removably support said receptacle with said planar surface sloping downward from front to rear and downward from one side to the other of said housing whereby one corner of the leading edge of a sheet being discharged by said printing couple will strike said surface before other portions of the sheet, such last mentioned housing side is provided with an opening through which sheets on the receptacle are visible and through which the receptacle may be moved into and out of said housing, and means cooperating with said housing and receptacle to support the receptacle with its major portion within the confines of the housing but with its lowermost corner projecting outside of said housing through said side wall opening.

5. In a duplicating machine an upstanding hollow housing substantially rectangular in horizontal section and including a pair of spaced side walls and a pair of end walls, a pair of coacting printing rolls rotatably mounted in the upper portion of the housing adjacent one end thereof and having axes extending horizontally of and transverse relative to the housing, a sheet feed table extending horizon-tally outward from said last named housing end and .across which sheets may be fed into the bite of said rolls,

one of said side walls having an enlarged opening extending therethrough and disposed below the plane of said rolls, a sheet receiving receptacle movable into and out of the housing through such opening, and means coacting with the housing and receptacle to removably retain the receptacle in position substantially within said housing, said last named means including an inwardly facing abutment carried by the housing and positioned adjacent the side wall opposite the wall having the open-ing and against which one edge of said receptacle may abut, a downward depending lug secured to and spaced inward from the opposite edge of the receptacle, said casing having a second inwardly facing abutment adjacent side wall having the opening extending therethrough and against which said lug may abut, and wherein the distance between said receptacle edge and said lug is greaterv than the horizontal distance between said abutments.

6. A duplicating machine according to claim 5 having receptacle supporting means adjacent said last named abutment and positioned to incline said receptacle downward toward the end of the housing opposite the feed table.

7. In a duplicating machine, a vertically extending rectangular housing having a pair of spaced side walls, a front wall and a rear wall, a pair of coacting printing rolls journaled in the upper portion of said housing with their axes extending horizontally and transversely relative to said housing, a sheet feed table secured to said housing and extending forward from the front wall and across which sheets may be fed to the bite of said rolls, one of said side walls having an enlarged opening extending therethrough, a substantially rectangular sheet receiving receptacle carried by said housing and movable into and out of sheet receiving position through said opening, means to divert freshly printed sheets from the printing couple into said receptacle and means to removably support said receptacle with said surface sloping downward fifteen to twenty-five degrees from front to rear and downward fifteen to twenty-five degrees from one side to 8 the other of said housing whereby one corner of the leading edge of a sheet being discharged by saidprinting couple will strike said surface before other portions of the sheet, and wherein the two lowermost edges of said receptacle are provided with upstandingfianges forming substantially right angles with each other 'and against which sheets deposited on the receptacle may come to rest, said flanges extending at an acute angle to thellongitudinal and horizontal axes of the housing as measured counter-clockwise about the lowermost corner of the receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

